Jayme Nietzel, Campus Carrier Staff Photojournalist
Every semester Berry tries to find new ways to help students relieve stress, whether it’s the ‘Stress Busters’ in the Library, Food for Finals or free massages.
It’s no surprise that college students are stressed out, but colleges are finding new ways to help students relieve that stress. One of the latest trends is pet therapy, especially dog therapy. Berry should follow this lead and invest in a pet therapy program. In the past decade, the use of therapy dogs on college campuses has gone from nonexistent to fairly normal. For over 25 years, research has shown the mental benefits of interacting with animals.
According to the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute’s most recent study, first-year college students’ sense of emotional well-being is at its lowest since they first began the research in 1985. Between new surroundings, new people and more challenging academics, it’s no surprise that students are facing a greater amount of stress.
While a pet therapy program statistically benefits first-year students the most, it would provide stress relief for all students. The stress and anxiety that comes with being a college student does not end after the first year, but students often find ways to fight it. My favorite choice: puppies.
Many Berry students find time to go to Petland to play with their puppies for free. This is a proven way to combat stress. Georgia College researcher, Lindy Parker, acknowledged that their most “impactful” element of an intervention on students’ anxiety and loneliness was a German Shepherd named Sophie.
According to the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, the University of Wisconsin (UW) Whitewater proves the success of these programs. Since the program began in fall 2012, the number of sessions and participating pets has increased each semester.
“The program really helped students who were stressed and needed something to take their mind off of school for a few minutes,” said UW Whitewater 2015 alumna Brittany Baures.
Many of these programs utilize spaces that students will often already be in to increase exposure.
“[The Program] was held in the library so students who were already there had easy access to the dogs,” Baures said.
Other universities have started “Puppy Rooms,” which are rooms with designated hours where students can stop in to play with the dogs.
With the amount of acres on Berry’s campus, there is plenty of space to implement such a program where students can play with dogs or other animals. Berry does give students some opportunities, including an annual dog walk and alpacas during Ag Week and living in pet-friendly housing in Poland Hall. Senior Elizabeth Anthony agrees that a pet therapy program would be beneficial for students and lower their anxiety. Anthony, who adopted a puppy this year, gets to experience these benefits on a daily basis.
“I just cuddle with [my dog], and it makes me feel better,” she said.
Playing with animals increases levels of oxytocin, a stress-reducing hormone, and decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
One of the main reasons that universities have been increasingly utilizing pet therapy is the low cost of running these programs. Most university pet therapy programs are entirely free for students and practically free for universities. More often than not the dog handlers are volunteers who bring in their own pet-therapy certified dogs for these events and do not receive pay.
An on-campus pet therapy program would be a low-cost way to provide students at Berry with an optimal opportunity to have a quick study break that has proven benefits.